Are you a thunderbolt or a light rain? A sprinter or a marathoner?

Which is more important: the initial thunderclap and lightning or the slow, steady rain?

There are loads of rah rah books out there to get you motivated, get you off your butt and moving. But after that initial cheerleading session is over, do you have a steady plan to stay the course?

Does rain need lightning?

What’s our goal anyway? If we stick with the rain analogy, are we trying to nourish a forest or get a great photo? What’s the benefit of thunder and lightning anyway? Isn’t it just a clash of the clouds? The pressure building up so much that something has to give. It’s awesome, spectacular and quickly over.

But a slow and steady rain is what the forest needs to survive over the long term. In fact, you could say that lightning even kills it now and again or maybe helps clear it out of too much underbrush with a fire.

“Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.”  — Newt Gingrich

What’s more important for us? That initial thunderclap to get us motivated or the constant continuation thereafter? From my perspective, where I am right now, I’d say that we need both, but that the steady rain is the harder of the two to accomplish. That initial burst of energy is important and can also propel you further (or not) into the direction you’re heading, but it’s the slow game that’s going to set you apart.